Word: marts
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...company denies that it mistreats workers and plans to appeal the class-action ruling on the sex-discrimination suit. "The company does not condone discrimination of any kind," says spokeswoman Sarah Clark, adding that female employees are fairly promoted and paid. Some Wal-Mart employees agree. Says Brenda Dobbins, 50, an hourly worker in Wilson: "I've had all sorts of opportunities here, and I've always been treated fairly." Yet changes to some of its employment practices suggest that Wal-Mart is responding to the criticism. In June the company adjusted pay for many jobs; later this year...
...practices. More than 30 lawsuits have accused it of cheating workers out of overtime pay. In a case in Oregon, the company was found to have forced employees to punch out and then return to work off the clock. A federal investigation discovered that in dozens of stores Wal-Mart used contractors that hired illegal immigrants. Now a federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that a sex-discrimination lawsuit filed in 2001 by six women can proceed as a class action on behalf of all Wal-Mart's current and former female employees. With up to 1.6 million plaintiffs...
...many ways, Wal-Mart's problems stem from the conservative, Southern culture fostered by founder Sam Walton, according to Ellen Rosen, who is writing a book about the role of women at retail companies, including Wal-Mart. The old-fashioned values were one of the things that attracted Deborah Zambrana, 37, an 11-year employee of the store in Wilson, N.C. Then a note she wrote requesting help sorting lingerie came back scrawled with a chauvinist comment. When a male colleague admitted to the deed, "instead of being reprimanded," says Zambrana, who like Adams is not one of the lead...
...Mart, known for its smiley-face icon, is confronting other complaints too. It has successfully fought to keep out unions--so far. The average wage for hourly workers barely exceeds the federal poverty level for those with families, and the company's health-care plan is so expensive that only half its workers choose to be covered. Workers have charged that they were locked inside stores at night and that managers secretly "shaved" their time sheets to meet budgets...
...Mart has tried to downplay the complaints, suggesting they are a natural outgrowth of success. With an organization of this size and status, "anyone who says something is not going to go bump in the night is not being realistic," said human-resources head Coleman Peterson in an interview before he retired last month...